Date of Award

8-2006

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Communication

Advisor

Eric E. Peterson

Second Committee Member

Kristin M. Langellier

Third Committee Member

Laura Lindenfeld

Abstract

This study seeks to explore the experience of individuals who are members of the hardcore youth culture. The hardcore community is a musiccentered youth culture that draws its roots from punk. Today, hardcore is also experiencing heightened attention from mass media and popular music institutions, making it an interesting instance in which boundaries between youth culture and hegemonic or dominant culture are being broken down, and the way it is influencing the experiences members of the community have. The project uses data gathered through extensive interviews in order to develop a large pool of experience from which to draw upon. In the end, this study seeks to answer the question: what is it to be a part of the hardcore community in Maine? The study proceeds through four separate chapters. The first takes a look at relevant literature concerning youth (or sub-) culture through various traditions including psychology and cultural studies, and also lays out the workings for a phenomenology of hardcore. The second chapter explains phenomenology as both method and methodology, and also touches on the interview processes used in data gathering process. The third chapter contains the first two steps (description and reduction) of the phenomenological method. The fourth chapter contains the final step of the phenomenological method (interpretation), as well as concluding remarks.

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